Phillips head screw starter



Nov. 29, 1966 s. KYSER PHILLIPS HEAD SCREW STARTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 28, 1964 INVENTOR SMITH KKSER ATTORNEYS Nov. 29, 1966 s. KYSER 3,288,184

PHILLIPS HEAD SCREW STARTER Filed Dec. 28, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 66 2a 3a 3a 5a 56 g; 26 62 30 f INVENTOI? SMITH KVSER 8y WW,WW& COM

4 TTOR/VEKS' United States Patent 3,288,184 PHILLIPS HE -D SCREW STARTER Smith Kyser, Lowell, Mich, assignor to Aircraft Specialties, lnc., Lapeer, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 28, 1964, Ser. No. 421,439 4 Claims. (Cl. 145-50) This invention relates to a starter for cross-cut or cruciform slot screws, such as the Phillips Head and Reed and Prince screws.

In many operations is has been found extremely difficult, if not impossible, to hold a screw in place with one hand while driving it with a screwdriver held in the other hand. One reason for this difficulty is the lack of access space for the hand holding the screw. Various devices have been developed which will secure a screw on the head of a screwdriver, thereby obviating the necessity of holding the screw in place with one hand while starting it in its hole. Each of these devices releasably holds the screw in place and can be Withdrawn from the screw with a minimum of difliculty after the screw has been started in its hole.

The screw starter or this invention is used specifically with screws having a cross-cut or cruciform slot in their heads. More particularly, the screw starter of this invention is an improvement on the screw starter disclosed and claimed in co-pending application Serial No. 224,315, filed September 18, 1962, now Patent No. 3,208,489. The Phillips Head screw is the most common example of a screw having a cruciform slotted head. However, the screw starter of this invention can be used with any screw having a cruciform or cross-cut slot.

One of the features of the improved screw starter of this invention is the provision of serrations formed in the upper exposed surfaces of each of the blades of the bit portion of the starter. These serrations are formed by placing a plurality of laterally extending grooves across the forward tip of each blade. It has been found in actual tests that the serrations increase the holding power of the bit portion on a screw manyfold as compared to the identical screw starter without the serrations.-

Another improved feature of the screw starter of this invention is the manner in which the divergent blades are secured within the handle of the screw starter. In the prior screw starter the blades were maintained in place by a pressed fit within an insert which in turn was pressed into the handle. In the screw starter of this invention, the divergent blades are provided with opposed, aligned holes which are secured within an insert by a stake fastening. The insert is again secured within the handle.

A third novel feature of the screw starter of this invention is the provision of means for facilitating the sliding of the sleeve to cause the convergence of the divergent blades. These means comprise a pair of balls freely rotatable within holes or sockets formed within the sleeve. As the sleeve is pushed forward, these balls will rotate and depress the divergent blades.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved screw starter for screws having cross-cut slots.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved screw starter for screws having cross-cut slots that has increased holding power for temporarily securing a screw thereon.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved screw starter for screws having cross-cut slots that is simple in construction and durable in use.

These and other objects of this invention are accomplished by providing a starter for a screw having crosscut slots in its head comprising a shank portion and a bit portion formed on one end thereof, said bit portion comprising two divergent angular wings secured on said Patented Nov. 29, 1966 shank portion, with the forward ends of said wings being V-shaped in cross-section and serrated on their outer surfaces, said wings adapted to be releasably secured in said slots, and a sleeve slidably mounted over said shank portion and said bit portion, whereby the sliding of said sleeve in the direction of the front of said bit portion will cause said wings to converge.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becames better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a screw having cross-cut slots in its head and the starter of this invention immediately prior to insertion in said slots;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the screw releasably secured on the starter of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the blades of the bit portion in their open condition;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged front sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 66 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 77 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the cut blank for making a blade for the screw starter of this invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a modified embodiment of the screw starter of this invention;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 10-10 of FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line 11-11 of FIG. 10.

Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawings wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, a Phillips Head screw starter embodying the present invention is generally shown at 20 in FIG. 1 Device 20 basically comprises a shank 22, a bit portion 24 secured in said shank, and a sleeve 26 slidably mounted over said shank and said bit portion.

Shank 22 basically comprises elongated rod 28 and insert 30. Rod 28 is provided with an axial bore 32 at one end thereof in which insert 30 is secured. This securement can be made by a pressed fit or other means known to the art. To aid in this securement, splines 34 are formed in the entire rear outer surface of insert 30. Thus these splines will be physically pressed into the metal of rod 28. Rod 28 is provided with a shoulder 36 which extends along the entire rear thereof. As seen in FIG. 1, shoulder 36 is provided with a knurled surface along its entire length. This surface aids in gripping and turning the shank during the insertion of a screw into a hole.

Bit portion 24 is secured in insert 30 by a stake fastening, as will be more fully explained'hereinafter. Bit portion 24 basically comprises a pair of resilient blades 38. As best seen in FIG. 5, the tip of each blade is V-shaped in cross-section and in the embodiment shown, the angle between the two legs of each V is As further seen in FIG. 5, the two Vs open in opposite directions from each other. Thus, in the embodiment shown, each leg of a wing is 90 out of phase with an adjacent leg. Of course, it is to be understood, that in cases wherein the screw slots are at angles other than 90, the angles between the legs of each V can be varied accordingly.

Each blade is formed from a rectangular piece of resilient metal, such as spring steel. The metal is cut to leave a spade shaped forward portion 40, as best seen in FIG. 8. This portion is provided with a plurality of serrations 42 in one surface thereof by cutting a series of parallel grooves into said surface. The rear portion of the blank of the blade is provided with a hole 44 (FIG. 8). The forward portion of the blade is then formed into' the V-shape shown in FIG. by bending it along line 46 shown in FIG. 8. Additionally, upturned walls 48 are formed immediately behind the front portion by bending the blank upwardly along lines 50 (FIG. 8). As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the rear portions of blades 38 abut. Thereafter, the two blades diverge along central planar portions 52. The blades are then bent inwardly to converge where the base of each wall 48 meets central planar portion 52. Finally, the forward portions 40 of each blade have their bottom edges substantially paral' lel, as seen in FIG. 4.

The spade shaped front portion 40 results in the for mation of edges 54'which taper upwardly when this portion is bent into the V shown in FIG. 5. These tapered front edges 54 are of generally the same taper as the tapered walls of the slots of screws having cross-cut slotted heads. Top edges 56 of upturned walls 48 taper upwardly and abut the rear edge of the front portion 40. The intersection of the rear edge of front portion 40 and the forward edge of upturned walls 48 results in a shoulder 58.

After the blade portions 38 have been formed they are placed in the back-to-back relationship shown in FIG. 4 thereby forming bit portion 24. Thereafter, the pair of blades 38 is secured in insert 30. This securement is accomplished by first providing a slot 60 (FIG. 4) extending longitudinally inward from one side of insert 30. Thereafter the blades 38 in the relationship shown in FIG. 4 are inserted into the slot with their holes 44 aligned. The blades are secured in place within the slot by a stake fastening 62 which passes through the holes (FIGS. 3, 4 and 7). The stake fastening is formed by punching insert 30 immediately above and below holes 44. This punching operation crimps the metal of insert 30 and forces it into the holes.

The screw starter of this invention is completed by inserting bit portion 24 and its associated insert 30 into sleeve 26. Thereafter, the insert 30 is forced into bore 32 of rod 28 and held frictionally in place through the aid of splines 34. Thus, the securement is made solely through a pressed fit and it is maintained in place through the additional frictional force of the splines 34 engaging the walls of bore 32. As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, sleeve 26 is slidably mounted and is freely movable along shoulder 64 of insert 30 and edges 56 of upturned walls 48 of the blades 38. Sleeve 26 is tubular and includes an integral collar 66 which has a knurled surface.

The screw starter of this invention can be used with any screw having cross-cut slots in its head. In the em bodiment shown in FIG. 1, screw 68 has a first slot 70 and a second slot 72 extending perpendicularly thereto. The walls of the slots taper inwardly as they project into the body of the screw. Examples of screws on which this invention may be used are shown in Patents No. 2,046,837, 2,474,994 and 2,507,231. In use, sleeve 26 is pushed forward until its forward edge abuts shoulder 58, thereby depressing divergent blades 38 to their greatest extent, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5. The movement of the sleeve is facilitated by grasping knurled collar 66. In order to aid the depression of blades 38, the backs of the blades at the vertex of each V are cut to a flattened condition as shown at 74 in FIG. 6. With the blades in this depressed condition, they are inserted in screws 68 with one leg of each blade being received in a corresponding leg of one of the slots. Thereafter, sleeve 26 is pulled rearwardly, thereby permitting the blades 38 to diverge again to the condition shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. However, with the screw in place, the divergency of the blades is limited to the extent of the walls of the screw slots. Thus, as the blades expand, they will resiliently grip the outer walls of the slots, thereby securing the screw in place.

With the screw held resiliently in place, as shown in FIG. 2, it is then a relatively simple matter to start it in its hole. This is accomplished by merely grasping knurled portion 36 of rod 28, placing the screw adjacent the hole, and rotating the knurled portion in the direction of arrow 76 while inserting the screw. Thus the screw can be inserted in a relatively inaccessible hole while using only one hand.

After the screw has been started in the hole, the screw starter of this invention is removed. This can be acl complished by pushing sleeve 26 forward, thereby comwith screw starter 20. Otherwise, after the starter has been removed, a conventional Phillips Head screwdriver can be used to finish the insertion.

A modified embodiment of the screw starter of this invention is generally shown at 80 in FIG. 9. Screw starter 88 is substantially identical to screw starter 20 and includes shank 22, bit portion 24, and sleeve 26. The one improved area of screw starter 80 resides in the means by which blades 38 are compressed. Thus, it has been found that there is a certain degree of frictional resistance to the sliding of sleeve 26 forward along tapered edges 56 of upturned walls 48. The compression of the blades of screw starter 80 is accomplished without any engagement of sleeves 26 on upper edges 56 of walls 48. Instead, the compression is accomplished by providing a pair of freely rotatable balls 82 positioned in diametrically opposed holes 84 in sleeve 26. As is apparent from FIG. 11, the diameter of the holes is smaller than the diameter of the balls but is sufficiently large to accommodate a substantial portion of the ball within the hole.

Screw starter 80 is used in exactly the same manner as screw starter 20. Thus when it is desired to compress the blades of the starter, sleeve 26 is pushed forward. This causes the compression of the blades because balls 82 will rotate or slide along upwardly inclined planar surfaces 52 until they reach the crest 86 of each planar surface. As seen in FIG. 10, when the balls are at the crest 86, the blades 38 are completely compressed. Thereafter, sleeve 26 is withdrawn and the balls will no longer apply any pressure to the planar surfaces 52. As is apparent from FIG. 10, when the sleeve 26 is withdrawn the balls will drop from holes 84. However, the balls are of a sufficient diameter as to always have at least some portion thereof positioned within the hole regardless of the position of sleeve 26. For this reason, it is unnecessary to provide any additional securement means for maintaining the balls within the holes. The balls are originally positioned in place by inserting them after the blades have been staked in place but prior to the time that insert 30 has been placed within rod 28. In this connection it should be noted that the diameter of the balls is smaller than the space between the horizontal portions of blades 38 immediately in front of the insert and the sleeve 26. However, once the insert has been placed within the rod, the balls will not be returned to this position as they will always be in contact with inclined por-' tions 52 regardless of the position of the sleeve 26. As. previously pointed out, the sleeve is limited in the distance that it may be slid by shoulders 58 and the forward edge of rod 28.

The starter of this invention may be made from numerous materials. Rod 28 may comprise any material having the strength and hardness characteristics to permit the transmission of torque to bit portion 24 without distorting the rod. For instance, wood, metal or plastic may be used. Aluminum has been found to be particularly US$ .1 If desired, the metal may be coated with a plastic such as nylon. Alternatively, the entire rod can be made from nylon.

Insert 38 may be made of any material which will securely hold bit portion 24 and can be secured in rod 23. Spring steels have been found to be particularly effective for this use. A material which has given eX- cellent results is annealed 65 spring steel.

With respect to blades 38, any material which is sufficiently resilient to hold a screw in place may be used. A material which has given excellent results is tempered 6580 carbon spring steel. This tempering treatment comprises subjecting spring steel to a temperature of 1400 to 1500 F. for to minutes. The steel is then drawn to the proper emper. At this temper the Rockwell hardness is approximately 45 to 47. Although this particular steel has been found to be particularly effective, any spring steel may be used.

The improvements of the Phillips Head screw starter of this invention provide distinct advantages over the starter disclosed and claimed in aforementioned application Serial No. 224,315. The serrated blades greatly increase the holding power of the starter on a screw. The stake fastening results in ease of manufacture and a more secure grip on the blades within the insert. The use of the rotatable balls on the blades permits the compression of the blades with less force than that required on the screw starter of application Serial No. 224,315 or that of embodiment 21) described above. However, even in view of these improvements, it is to be noted that the screw starter described and claimed in application Serial No. 224,315 will still work effectively for its intended purpose.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that Within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. A starter for a screw having cross cut slots in its head comprising a shank portion and a bit portion formed on one end thereof, said bit portion comprising two divergent blades secured on said shank portion, with the forward ends of said blades being V-shaped in cross-section, said blades being adapted to be releasably secured in said screw slots, a sleeve slidably mounted over said shank portion and said bit portion, said blades including divergent surfaces within the area covered by said sleeve,- with said sleeve having a pair of opposed holes formed therein, a ball positioned within said sleeve at each of said holes, with the diameters of said holes being smaller than the diameters of said balls, said balls adapted to contact said divergent surfaces when said sleeve is pushed forward, whereby the sliding of said sleeve in a forward direction will cause said blades to converge.

2. The starter of claim 1 wherein said balls are freely mounted at said holes.

3. A starter for a screw having cross-cut slots in its head comprising a shank portion and a bit portion formed on one end thereof, said bit portion comprising two divergent blades secured on said shank portion, with the forward ends of said blades being V-shaped in cross-section and serrated on their outer surfaces, said blades being adapted to be rele asably secured in said screw slots, and a sleeve slidably mounted over said shank portion and said bit portion, whereby the sliding of said sleeve in the direction of the front of said bit portion will cause said blades to converge, with said blades including divergent surfaces within the area covered by said sleeve, with said sleeve having a pair of opposed holes formed therein, a ball positioned within said sleeve at each of said holes, with the diameters of said holes being smaller than the diameters of said balls, said balls adapted to contact said divergent surfaces when said sleeve is pushed forward, thereby causing said blades to converge.

4. The starter of claim 3 wherein said balls are freely mounted at said holes.

References @ited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,846,857 2/ 1932 Gibson.

3,208,489 9/ 1965 Walker et al.

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,013,588 8/1951 Germany.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

R. V. PARKER, JR., Assistant Examiner. 

1. A STARTER FOR A SCREW HAVING CROSS CUT SLOTS IN ITS HEAD COMPRISING A SHANK PORTION AND A BIT PORTION FORMED ON ONE END THEREOF, SAID BIT PORTION COMPRISING TWO DIVERGENT BLADES SECURED ON SAID SHANK PORTION, WITH THE FORWARD ENDS OF SAID BLADES BEING V-SHAPED IN CROSS-SECTION, SAID BLADES BEING ADAPTED TO BE RELEASABLY SECURED IN SAID SCREW SLOTS, A SLEEVE SLIDABLY MOUNTED OVER SAID SHANK PORTION AND SAID BIT PORTION, SAID BLADES INCLUDING DIVERGENT SURFACES WITHIN THE AREA COVER BY SAID SLEEVE, WITH SAID SLEEVE HAVING A PAIR OF OPPOSED HOLES FORMED THEREIN, A BALL POSITIONED WITHIN SAID SLEEVE AT EACH OF SAID HOLES, WITH THE DIAMETERS OF SAID HOLES BEING SMALLER THAN THE DIAMETERS OF SAID BALLS, SAID BALLS ADAPTED TO CONTACT SAID DIVERGENT SURFACES WHEN SAID SLEEVE IS PUSHED FORWARD, WHEREBY THE SLIDING OF SAID SLEEVE IN A FORWARD DIRECTION WILL CAUSE SAID BLADES TO CONVERGE. 